Jewelry Business Guru by Cindy Edelstein

WWD Q&A With David Lipman, Advertising Guru

I think there's a bunch of great ideas in this quick interview with David Lipman.

Read it all online -- here are my favorite quotes:

WWD: What role does technology play in marketing?
D.L.: You can’t market or communicate without it. But many people in the fashion world don’t understand how to embrace it and apply it to everyday life. High-tech mobile devices and the Internet are a part of our daily lives now. if you can’t communicate and market online yet, you’re missing out. Those little things that fit in our handbags or pockets are a new weapon, and that’s where I see the biggest opportunity.

WWD: Who are new players in the market?
D.L.: RueLaLa, a shopping Web site, has product that sells out at lightning-bolt speed. Firms like Amazon changed the way we shop for and wear apparel. Fifteen years ago, where was Google in our lives? Today, how many times a day do you say, “Go Google this, or Google that.” There is so much exciting new technology out there that is mind-boggling. By 2015, we’re going to be in a touch-screen world.

WWD: What consumer trends will develop?
D.L.: The next thing will be betterment of our lives — better air, better food, better water….Think about Whole Foods, the hybrid car, the battery-operated car, solar energy, organic this, organic that….People want healthier and better lives, to live longer, and that is going to be the next wave of consumerism, with clean tech and green tech.

How do you see these trends playing out in jewelry?  Leave me a comment.......

Three Times in Three Weeks Makes it a Super Trend -- Agate Slices and Crystal Jewelry

Agate sliced jewelry layout in the May issue of O Magazine.

Did you ever think it would be high fashion/in again?

Inspired by Mother Earth - More Editorial for Drusy, Agate Slices and Raw Gems

Inspired by Mother Earth - Los Angeles Times.

"Authentic more natural stones are the 'new bling,' " says Julie Gilhart, senior vice president and fashion director of Barneys New York. "There is a handmade craft and artisanal feel to them, which feels fresh and new."

Devon Leigh earrings, $395 at www.devonleigh.com.

Erickson Beamon necklace, $778 at Curve, Los Angeles; Irene Neuwirth necklace, $34,340 at Barneys New York, Beverly Hills; Manu rings, $175 each at Barneys Co-Op.

May issue of Elle Shows A lot of Jewels -- whew! How Refreshing

Seriously, I was going into withdrawal. I know all this frugality is good for us -- I'm reusing, repurposing, recycling. But a gal's gotta get some eye candy some time!

The new issue of Elle arrived yesterday and there was jewelry to be seen throughout. Oh how I missed my frivolity and jewelicious pages.

There was jewelry featured in at least three sections of the Fashion News department. And jewelry in the fashion spreads. And a goodly amount of jewelry ads.

An interesting trend was highlighted -- agate geode  slices. In multiples for the neck and wrist. Big, heavy and often dyed crystally slices. Not normally on my IN list but in these dark times, even they lightened my mood.

Do you find the trend a bit funky? Or fabulous?

I think I've gone to two too many Tucson gem shows to really appreciate this as a high-fashion look. But they're inexpensive and eyecatching and well, frankly, quite fun. 

So, I vote for the slices. In any color.

NY Gift Show Held Optimism for Jewelers - Jewelry Trends Focus on Black, Airy and Natural

It wasn't all doom at the NY International Gift Show this week at the Javits Center. While recent reports from a lot trade shows were depressing more people I spoke to yesterday were pleasantly surprised. Perhaps expectations were set SO low that any news was good news but still and all, I spoke with designers who see this as a time for the good guys to "hold on" and treat their customers well and make smart, conservative choices in their business management. Odd statement for "artists" to make, huh? But these were sound, rational unpanicked conversations.

What a welcome relief!

Now don't get me wrong, no one was whooping it up but they weren't crying in their beers, either.

The retailers that attended (while small in number) seemed cautious but resigned to waiting it out. They expected to still be here in a year.

The trends I saw were:

•  dark silver with light silver (as Gurhan has coined the look)
• bigger, open, airy silhouettes using minimal metal to create scale
• little touches of pearl or diamond or a gemstone to brighten up an all metal design
• hoops done in very creative ways and shapes
• small stack rings or big cocktail rings (even in silver, even with lowerpriced stones)
• even more sentimental, emotional, talismanic jewels with names, initials, spiritual sayings (while not "new" almost everyone said that was a bestseller right now)
• blackened details everywhere
• focus on natural elements, organic components, "green" jewelry and socially responsible products

Favorites were:

• dark and light silver hoop earrings in adorable cut out shapes at Bree Richey
• antique lockets restrung, rehung and designed around by JustJules
• spinning rings and stack bracelets by Cynthia Gale
• giant checkerboard faceted rings in tiger's eye and all kinds of stones at Lori Bonn
• clear Conscious Jewels at Lori Bonn
• rose-cut colored diamonds at Jennifer Dawes
• polished silver amorphous shapes on a black cord by Somers Design
• rutilated quartz lozenges (and other stones) in gold frames on all kinds of necklaces by Ann Sportun
• the neverending array of personalized pendants at Heather B. Moore (the line just keeps going and going and gets better and better)
• Springtime colors of natural beryl at Saundra Messinger

Maria Poole and Lori Bonn -- Lori Bonn jewelry

  

Bree Richey

Kathy Frey's gorgeous display and light and airy jewels

Ask Us! Tell Us Your Biggest Business Challenge and We'll Track Down the Answers

What's on your mind?

Tell us your biggest conundrum, share with us a current challenge, ask us your big question and we'll use the questions posted here in comments during our new teleconference series. We'll be talking with our Advisors, some famous designers and a host of other experts and we'll ask them YOUR questions. No guarantees we'll get to all nor that we'll go in any particular order but... the goal is definitely to be tidy and complete!

So...... Ask Us!

Hunting Down Chocolate Gold

I've been talking about chocolate gold for a year now -- seeing it in more European lines like the luscious Mattioli brand from Italy (gorgeous designs!!!). And of course, designers are asking where can they get it.

So I made a few calls to United Precious Metals & David H. Fell (where you can buy all colors of gold) and to the U.S. office of Mattioli and confirmed that it is NOT an alloy but a surface treatment. It's a very high tech metallurgic magic (PVD or physical vapor deposition) that turns titanium a rich chocolate color (actually can turn it lots of different colors) that is added to a gold design.

Yummy!

In a related color story we saw bronze alloys in play this past fine jewelry market. Similar warm tones but way cheaper material. Think fine jewelers will go for this?

Raw Diamond and Green Jewelry Trend Quotes in Epoch Times

I met with a reporter for The Epoch Times during the JA New York Show and we talked trends for quite a while.

"According to Cindy Edelstein from the Jewelry Resource, the trends that we see today are mimicked throughout the industry. Designs are using different textures, mixing different metals, and presenting new stones.

Hoops are popular, earrings are getting bigger, and bangles and cuffs are a must. Stack rings are still going strong, but this is the year of the cuff!

For a while jewelry was tiny, but now it is scaling up. Wear an armload of bangles or a big cuff. Add movement—wear a waterfall on the ear rather than a shield."

Read the whole jewelry trend article in Epoch Times....

Accessories playing big at New York's Fashion Week -- Big pendants, chains and shoulder-dusting earrings abound

The New York fashion shows are nearly done and the vote is in for accessories.... the more the better.

Reuters fashion writer reports today:

"If you can't buy a new outfit, you'll spend on a statement necklace or stacked bracelets," said Nina Garcia, fashion director at Marie Claire who is known for her role as a judge on Bravo television's "Project Runway."

"It's an immediate fix" that suits the fashion-conscious and budget-conscious consumer, she said.

So big are accessories for spring that scarcely a delicate piece or a bit of fine jewelry could be found, said Robert Burke of Robert Burke Associates, a luxury consulting company.

"We're not seeing anything small," he said. Instead, he added, "look for very signature items."   

Many in the fashion world see bold, chunky jewelry as the new 'it' bag, said Judy Licht, a television co-host of Full Frontal Fashion.

Designer Nicole Miller's long swinging necklaces, which hung well below the waist, were decorated with amulets evocative of voodoo, which the designer said was an inspiration for her spring collection. Australian designer Tony Cohen's models also wore long gold chains.

Where once the dress was a woman's fashion staple, the accessory has moved in and taken over, said Stan Herman, former head of the Council of Fashion Designers of America whose designs sell on QVC television and online shopping site.

"This is an accessory time, no doubt about it," said Herman. "Accessories are where the money is."          read more of this article here.

           

Ethical Jewelry Handbook Now Available

Reflective Images, a designer jewelry firm, announces the free Ebook for the jewelry trade entitled:  THE ETHICAL JEWELRY HANDBOOK:  A Resource Guide for the jewelry sector wishing to adopt exceptional standards and radical transparency:  Fair, Responsible, Ecological (FRE) System.

The book provides articles and information for those in the jewelry sector wishing to be more ecologically and socially responsible in their business practices.  It is also a handbook which explains how any company can implement the FRE System, which offers customers a detailed insight into the supply chain, from the mine to the showroom, for all components of every finished piece of jewelry the company sells.

FRE empowers customers to make decisions based on a product’s: F= Fair labor; R= Social Responsibility and E=Ecological impact.  It’s an "open source" model, said Marc Choyt, President of Reflective Images and author of the work.  "If the Fair Labeling Organizations (FLO) are analogous to a closed operating system, such as Microsoft, our FRE system is analogous to Linux. Any jewelry company can make it their own,” said Choyt.

Marc Choyt writes about ethical jewelry issues at www.fairjewelry.org/.